2019 Bahrain Feature Race
2018 Yas Marina Sprint Race | next = 2019 Bahrain Sprint Race}} The 2019 Bahrain Feature Race, otherwise known as the 2019 Sakhir Race 1, was the opening round of the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship, staged at the Bahrain International Circuit on the 30 March 2019.'2019 SEASON CALENDAR CONFIRMED', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 05/12/2018), http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2018/12_December/2019-season-calendar-confirmed/, (Accessed 05/12/2018) The race would see Nicholas Latifi sweep to victory for DAMS, in spite of being hobbled by a slow pit stop mid-race.'LATIFI STORMS TO VICTORY IN SEASON OPENER', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 30/03/2019), http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2019/03_March/Latifi-storms-to-victory-in-season-opener/, (Accessed 31/03/2019) Qualifying for the race had seen Luca Ghiotto and the "new" UNI-Virtuosi team grab pole position ahead of Louis Delétraz.'GHIOTTO FIRES TO BAHRAIN POLE', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 29/03/2019), http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2019/03_March/Ghiotto-fires-to-Bahrain-pole/, (Accessed 31/03/2019) Best of the rest was Nyck de Vries, while Mick Schumacher was the best placed rookie for the season opener, claiming tenth on the grid. The start of the race would see Ghiotto make a poor getaway from pole, gifting the lead to Delétraz as the Italian slump to sixth. Indeed, de Vries and Latifi would shoot past to squabble for second, the Canadian eventually coming out on top, while Jack Aitken and Nobuharu Matsushita also sneaked ahead. Sérgio Sette Câmara would be the man to watch during the early laps, moving from thirteenth to eighth after his own poor getaway. Ghiotto, in contrast, would opt to nurse his tyres during the early stages, planning to go on the attack when the pit-window opened, while Latifi stole the lead away from Delétraz. Ghiotto duly launched his raid for positions before the end of lap ten, and duly rose from sixth to second in the space of three laps. de Vries, meanwhile, would be the first to stop on lap thirteen, with the rest of the front runners coming in over the next three laps. Latifi's stop came on lap sixteen, although a sticking rear tyre cost the Canadian valuable time to drop him back behind de Vries, Matsushita and Delétraz. Ghiotto, meanwhile, tried to run an additional lap, but a dramatic loss of pace on that additional tour dropped him back to sixth behind Câmara. The second half of the race ultimately came to be dictated by tyre life, with Latifi and Ghiotto able to pick their way up the order as their rivals faded. Indeed, with five laps to go the Canadian and Italian were on their own at the head of the field, while de Vries and Delétraz came under pressure from those behind. With that the race was effectively run, with Latifi claiming a comfortable victory from Ghiotto by nine seconds. Câmara eventually filtered through in third, while Anthoine Hubert was best of the rookies in fourth after managing his tyres excellently during the closing stages. Background Entry List The full entry list for the is displayed below: Practice Qualifying Report Results The final qualifying result for the are outlined below: Grid Race Report Results The final classification of the is displayed below: *'Bold' indicates a driver started from pole. *''Italics'' indicate that a driver set fastest lap. Milestones * First race for UNI-Virtuosi as a registered entrant. * Debut race for Nikita Mazepin, Guanyu Zhou, Mick Schumacher, Callum Ilott, Juan Manuel Correa, Mahaveer Raghunathan, Tatiana Caldéron, Anthoine Hubert and Giuliano Alesi. * Third career victory for Nicholas Latifi. * DAMS claimed their ninth victory as an entrant in Formula Two. ** Also their 34th win at GP2/F2 level. * Maiden points finish for Hubert, Schumacher and Zhou. * Zhou recorded his maiden fastest lap. Standings Victory unsurprising left Nicholas Latifi at the head of the Championship hunt after the first race, although his lead was just three points, rather than the conventional seven. Indeed, pole combined with second had given Luca Ghiotto a total of 22 points after the opening race, with Sérgio Sette Câmara sat on fifteen in third. Anthoine Hubert, meanwhile, would open his maiden F2 campaign in fourth ahead of Louis Delétraz, while Nobuharu Matsushita was last of the scorers in tenth. In the Teams' Championship, meanwhile, it had been a positive day for DAMS, who opened their account with a double podium and 40 points to their name. UNI-Virtuosi ended the day in second, fifteen behind, while BWT Arden were ahead of Carlin despite both holding twelve points. The rest of the points were shared between ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing and Prema Racing, meaning seven teams had scored at the opening round. Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown. References Images and Videos: * References: Category:2019 Feature Races Category:Race articles Category:Bahrain